The Internet has transformed the world economy, and Net Neutrality is a major reason why.

Net Neutrality is important; this is the response written by Jeff Finkelstein, founder of Customer Paradigm, as filed with the FCC during their public comment period:

I cannot state strongly enough that bifurcating the Internet into a slow lane and a fast lane will dramatically reduce competition and limit consumer choice in the marketplace.

One of the amazing realities of the Internet is that any company that puts time and effort into building a website – big or small – can aggregate people, interests and purchasing, regardless of geography.

The Internet has allowed small companies, started by a single person, to compete on a global scale. Creating jobs, and more consumer choice in the marketplace.

In 2002, I founded a Website development company, Customer Paradigm (http://www.customerparadigm.com), based in Boulder, Colorado. We’ve worked with some of the largest brand names in the country.

But honestly, I prefer to work with smaller organizations in a lot of cases. Why? Because I know that the work that we do directly impacts the livelihoods of the business owners, and allows them to hire more people to help out. People who can help more customers find what they’re looking for, quickly and easily.

Creating a “fast lane” that forces businesses to pay more to have their content appear quickly will reduce competition in the marketplace, and dramatically limit consumer choice.

Google, Microsoft and others have calculated that a 200 millisecond improvement in site speed directly translates into more sales for an eCommerce site.

Small business owners can’t win if they are locked out of the fast lane. It will only be companies that can afford to pay the network owners for priority access that will win.

And this creates a financial disincentive for the network owners to speed up their networks.

The Internet has changed the world economy in ways that my grandfather could never have imagined. My grandfather was born in 1898, and at age five, immigrated to the United States from Poland. He ran a saloon and general store in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and told stories about robbers holding up the store and getting away on horseback.

For my grandfather, the only source of customers was the train that brought people to the small frontier town in Wyoming. Selling to people across the United States and the world, without meeting them in person was not even in the realm of possibility.

Ending Net Neutrality essentially will force many small businesses to deliver their goods (their information) at the speed of a horse. While larger companies with bigger budgets will be able to reach customers at the speed of a bullet.

Please keep the Internet Net Neutral. You have the power and the obligation to do so.